Winter moves into area

Amarillo man injured on icy Okla. highway

Posted: Sunday, December 09, 2007

Staff and wire reports

A cold front inched its way into the Tri-State area, dumping a wintry mix of fog and freezing precipitation on roads and highways across large portions of the region. An Amarillo man was injured when his car went out of control on ice in Oklahoma.

In eastern New Mexico, dense fog made driving hazardous with visibility down to a quarter-mile along parts of Interstate 40 from Tucumcari to the Texas border. By late Saturday, fog also had reduced visibility in parts of Amarillo.

Despite the fog, air traffic at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport was uninterrupted.

In Oklahoma

At least three accidents early Saturday in northwest Oklahoma were blamed on icy roads, including a crash in which an Amarillo man's pickup skidded off an icy bridge in Ellis County, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported.

Triplett was traveling west on U.S. Highway 60 about 12 miles west of Arnett, Okla., when he lost control of his car on an icy bridge, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said. The car rolled three times down a 60-foot embankment.

"They're already fairly cold up across northwest Oklahoma, and it will come into the rest of northern Oklahoma (Saturday) and probably hit central Oklahoma late (Sunday) morning toward the first part of the afternoon on Sunday," said Ty Judd, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norman.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Betsy Randolph urged motorists to drive with their headlights turned on and to make sure their vehicles are in proper working order.

"In this kind of weather, people need to make sure their windshield wipers are making contact with their windows, so they can clear off any rain or sleet," Randloph said. "And when it gets cold, the air pressure in your tires will shrink, so folks need to make sure their tires are filled up."

In Amarillo

It will be cold with chances for freezing rain and snow today through Monday.

Amarillo will be under a dense fog advisory and winter weather advisory this morning with light freezing rain expected, said Stephen Bilodeau with the National Weather Service in Amarillo.

Tonight, there is a slight chance of freezing rain or sleet with lows expected in the high teens, Bilodeau said.

On Monday, Amarillo will be under a winter storm watch throughout the day and into the evening. Highs on Monday are expected in the upper 20s with a 70 percent chance of freezing rain.

The cold wintry weather should clear out by Tuesday and the rest of the week will be a little warmer with highs in the mid 30s Tuesday and upper 40s by Friday, Bilodeau said.

In New Mexcio

Snow was expected across much of northern and western New Mexico.

Snow advisories were in effect for the Gila and Sangre de Cristo mountains and northwest New Mexico. The towns affected include Farmington, Gallup, Santa Fe, Taos and Red River.

Staff writer Josh Burton and Sean Murphy of The Associated Press contributed to this report.